Hey-o! I've got a busy weekend, so I figured I'd post this chapter early. And we're back with Maria's end of the story on her journey to Atlantis! Don't let its title fool you - Maria's only getting to know the other members of the crew.

A bit of a filler, unfortunately. But there will be important things happening next time!

Chapter 11 - Meet and Greet

Probably about a week or so into the journey, the expedition group had passed through more caves and tunnels then Maria could count, and had now been stopped by a giant stone wall that created a natural dead end. Rourke had instantly called for a halt and ordered Vinny up to the front of the caravan to inspect the wall.

Curious, Maria had followed the explosives expert up to Mole's drill. Lea followed close behind her, but Maria was sure it was just because he didn't want her to get into any trouble accidentally.

"So, what have you got, Vinny?" Rourke asked, looking over the Italian's shoulder as he looked through his bag. "Can you blow this thing up?"

"Well, I could if I had two hundred of these," Vinny replied as he waved around a stick of dynamite with an almost careless motion. "But I've only got, like, ten of these, plus five of my own... And a couple cherry bombs." He held up a group of three golden balls that didn't look like they had any sort of fuse. He dug even deeper into his bag and came up with a red stick that had white caps on either end. "Road flare. Hey, if we had some nitroglycerin, maybe I could blow through this wall."

The Italian looked over at Milo and smirked, but the linguist didn't return the amused expression. Neither did Maria, who had moved to stand next to the tall, gangly young man. Lea was standing behind the both of them with a deadpan expression.

Above them, Mole burst out into a loud bout of laughter.

"Is that enough?" Rourke asked, getting the Italian's attention.

"No." Vinny looked back at Rourke. "We've used up a lot of my stock already."

Mole, who had been sitting in his seat up in the drill, cackled excitedly again when he heard Vinny's statement. The stocky, short man clapped his hands together in an odd rhythm.

"Well, Mole," Rourke called up, "I guess now we have to dig."

Mole laughed again. "It would be my pleasure." A large grin spread across his face as he started up his giant drill and proceeded to drive up to the wall in order to start drilling. However, something in the engine suddenly gave out with an explosion of smoke, causing the the drill to stop right in front of the wall.

Mole let out a loud cry of frustration and banged his head on the wheel, causing the horn to go off loudly as he slammed a fist into the dash.

Maria and Lea exchanged glances.

"Something definitely happened back there," Maria remarked. "And I'm going to figure out what." She started around the drill. Lea followed after her.

"H-hey!" Milo scrambled after them, catching up with them as the two reached the back of Mole's drill. The trio reached the back of the drill just as Audrey was opening up the back.

Audrey let out a cough as a large cloud of black smoke came tumbling out of the back end. Maria ended up taking a couple steps back so that she wouldn't have to inhale it.

"Look's like the rotor's shot," Audrey remarked. "I'll go get the spare."

"Actually, I think -" Milo started.

"Don't. Touch. Anything," Audrey growled, turning on her heel to glare at the linguist. "And that goes for you two, too." She pointed at Lea and Maria, then turned around and walked toward the truck that was parked closest to the drill.

Milo watched the mechanic go for a moment, then peered into the drill. Grabbing a wrench, he climbed in and started to hit certain parts of the engine, causing loud creaking and groaning noises to be heard. Turning wheels connected to pipes produced the same cacophony until the engine suddenly roared to life.

Mole's cry of delight echoed throughout the cavern a few seconds later: "She lives!"

Maria found herself grinning, as well.

Audrey ran over from the truck, her gloved hands balling into fists as she glared at Milo. "What did you do?" she demanded.

Milo looked a little nervous at the sudden amount of attention and, rubbing the back of his neck while a more victorious look came over his face, he explained, "Well, back at the museum, they had a boiler that was a lot like some of the stuff in this engine. I figured that the whole engine must have overheated like the boiler did, so I did the same thing here as I did in the museum basement."

The linguist gave a smile, hoping that would do the trick in order to get Audrey to relax.

Audrey glared at him, then inspected the engine in order to make sure that Milo didn't do anything wrong to it. Then she slammed the back of the drill shut and returned her attention to Milo and clenched a fist. Milo took half a step back, and Audrey punched him in the arm twice.

"Two for flinching," the mechanic growled. Then she turned around abruptly and stomped off towards her truck.

"Ouch," Milo muttered, rubbing his arm. "Didn't she see that I was just trying to help?"

"She probably did," Maria remarked, watching Audrey as she disappeared behind one of the trucks. "Maybe she just didn't like that you managed to find a way around replacing a part." She looked back at Milo. "She probably can't believe that a bookworm managed to outdo her."

Milo gave a wry smile. "I guess she just doesn't have any experience with boilers, then."

Maria grinned and let out a short laugh. "I guess not!"

Time Break

There was the sudden sound of silence as Mole's drilling attachment suddenly powered down ahead of the caravan. The abrupt stop caused Maria to stop concentrating on keeping a Fire Sphere together, and she looked up the line of still-moving trucks in surprise.

"Think we're going to stop for the night?" Maria asked, glancing over at Lea.

The other shrugged. "Probably."

Gradually, the caravan drove through the tunnel that Mole's drill had created.

When Audrey managed to leave the tunnel, Maria found herself looking around in awe at what they had found.

"This is a pretty big cavern," Maria noted, looking around with wide eyes.

"We've got some natural light, too," Audrey reported from the truck cab. She pointed from the driver's window up at a giant yellow rock that was suspended from the ceiling like a chandelier.

Maria looked up herself, her eyes looking over the strange rock formation. Something about it set her off, but she wasn't sure what.

"I'm not sure I like that thing very much," she remarked. "It doesn't exactly look natural." She returned her gaze to the truck cab. "Think Mole may have an idea about how it formed or something?"

"Maybe," Audrey replied. Maria could see the mechanic shrug through the back window. "He likes to see things up close, though. Probably wouldn't be able to say anything about it."

"I think even a guess would make me feel a little better."

"Same here," Lea agreed. Maria caught sight of small sparks of flames flying off his gloved fingertips. "There's something about it that makes me feel on edge."

Maria nodded in agreement. "That's why I asked. I was kind of thinking of not sleeping and working on trying to get this fire stuff down a little better." She held up her left and and wriggled her fingers; fire sparked off the tips. "Think you could help me out?"

"Anything to keep my mind off that thing."

The caravan soon came to a stop in a relatively wide circle under the "chandelier", with a specific area that was left as a place for people to do their business that was almost directly below the rock formation. Maria couldn't help but get the feeling that it was going to be important later. Or that the ornately carved rock bridge behind them led to something important.

While the members of the caravan were setting up camp, Lea and Maria moved outside of the camp barriers so that they could work in peace - and without Cookie trying to give them some of his so-called "dinner."

However, before either one of them could start to use fire, someone called out both of their names.

"Maria! Lea!"

The two fire-users turned their heads, catching sight of a group of people sitting around a campfire just outside of the camp's borders.

"Get over here!" The dark-skinned man - Dr. Sweet - called. "You kids shouldn't work yourselves to death."

Lea and Maria looked at each other, the latter blinking with a blank expression on her face. Lea, however, shrugged.

"May as well. He's not going to leave us alone until we go over there." The Keyblade user motioned for Maria to follow him before starting for the campfire.

Cautiously, Maria followed. She hadn't spent much time with the members of the crew, and she wasn't exactly eager to do so for a reason that remained solidly buried in the back of her mind, where she couldn't get access to the information.

Lea sat down next to Sweet, Maria taking the open, upright rock that was next to him. A third empty seat was the only thing between her and Mole, who looked like he was ready to do something that he thought was horribly funny.

"Hey, Milo!" Audrey turned in her seat and shouted up a rocky hill towards the linguist, who was sitting by himself and going through a certain old book. "How about you come down here and sit by us, huh?"

Milo looked up from his book and pushed his glasses up his nose. The look on his face was that of a curious cautiousness. "You mean that?"

"Yeah - get over here!"

Milo quickly gathered his things and started for the campfire, balancing his tray on top of a large collection of notes. He moved around and sat down on the open seat between Maria and Mole.

There was a sudden explosion of sound as Milo collapsed onto the open spot. A certain Frenchman suddenly burst out into loud laughter, rolling off his seat and onto the rocky ground.

"Mole!" the others shouted, clearly annoyed.

Maria smirked quietly, hiding her mouth behind her hand as she looked down at the protruding, open end of a pink balloon.

Mole's rolling about slowed to a stop, leaving the short Frenchman wriggling his feet in the air while he hugged himself. "Oh! Forgive me...I could not resist!"

Maria shook her head, dropping her hand to show her smirk. "How did he even bring that?" she asked, motioning to the deflated whoopee cushion Milo was sitting on.

Audrey sighed and gave a shrug, a helpless look on her face. At the same time, however, she also looked amused. Her gaze moved to Milo, and she blinked when she saw that the linguist once again had his nose in the Journal.

"Milo, haven't you gone through that like, what, ten times already?" the mechanic asked, frowning.

"Yeah, but every time I go through it again, I discover that there's new technologies that they had," Milo replied. "Look at this - flying machines, lighting; it's just incredible." He looked at the others. "Of course, you guys probably aren't as interested as I am. Why'd you come along, anyway? The history, or the money?"

"Money," everyone except Maria and Lea replied.

"And you two?" Sweet asked, pointing at the two fire users with his fork. Maria couldn't help but notice that he was actually managing to eat what Cookie had handed out to the crew.

The question Sweet had thrown out was one that really puzzled Maria, though. There was an answer that she could have said that could expose her origins.
But, there was another one that Maria knew would be a better answer.

"I'm here for the adventure and the history," Maria finally stated. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with leaving home for a little trip into the unknown to cement one's independence, is there?"

"I don't know about that," Sweet remarked. "Too much adventure could be bad for your health. Especially when a person stows away in a place she doesn't belong." He looked at Maria with a meaningful look.

Maria blushed in embarrassment. "Well, I guess there's that." She gave a slight chuckle. "I wasn't exactly planning on getting in some sort of...underwater vehicle, though."

Submarine, she mentally reminded herself a second later.

"None of us were until that old man brought it up," Audrey pointed out. "As if that stopped me from signing up right away. If this thing's got treasure at the other end, it's going to help me a lot."

Milo gave a nod, then started to rub the back of his neck with a look of discomfort coming over his face. Sweet took note of this and, getting up, walked over to Milo and suddenly grabbed Milo's head and twisted.

Maria winced when she heard the cracking noise that resulted from the sudden movement. She wondered if it had hurt whenever that happened

"Better?" the African American doctor asked.

Milo rotated his neck and head, producing more quiet cracks as his neck started to loosen up. "Yeah," he said. He turned to look over at Sweet as he moved back to his seat. "How'd you do that?"

"Native American trick I learned from my mother," Sweet explained. He showed Milo, a picture, then turned so that Lea and Maria could see it, as well.

Maria blinked as she looked over the picture of an African American man and a Native American woman standing together. In a basket on the woman's back was a baby.

"Dad made sure that I got the rest of the education I needed," Sweet added.

Mole, who had managed to get back onto his seat after his long, laughing fit, looked over at Milo and started to eye his tray of Cookie's goop. The Frenchman reached out for it. "May I?"

"Uh...sure," Milo replied. He carefully moved the tray over, so that he wouldn't get any of the food on him or his notes. "Knock yourself out."

Mole eagerly started wolfing down the disgusting mush like he was nothing more than an animal. Maria turned away so that she wouldn't have to watch, but that didn't stop the noise from getting through.

"So, what are you kids really here for - besides the adventure?" Audrey asked.

"The Dream Eaters," Lea replied simply. "If we weren't here, they would have probably attacked in constant waves, and no one would have heard from you again." He leaned forward slightly, the fire giving his visage a rather sinister look. "No one."

There was silence around the campfire as Lea's words too hold. Maria had to resist giving a violent shudder.

"Well, on that note, we should probably finish setting up camp," Vinny muttered.

The others nodded in agreement, then dumped their trays into the campfire.

The fire exploded upon contact, sending a mushroom cloud up into the air.

Maria looked a little sick upon seeing this. "Yeech," she declared. [a/n: that's an exclamation of disgust]

The others nodded in agreement.

"I don't know what Cookie puts in it, and I don't want to find out," Sweet stated.

Spacial Break

A single figure sat on a rocky outcropping high above glittering lights that shimmered below the giant yellow rock. His silver hair had taken on a yellow sheen thanks to the light coming from almost directly below him.

It had taken a few days to find the caravan's tracks, and he had remained at a good distance behind until this point. The potion that Sora had concocted had managed to give him some extra strength in order to finally catch up.

The silver-haired young man let out a sigh and started to get to his feet. Now was the time to find out how Lea was doing and whether or not he had heard anything while in this realm of sleep.

Before the man could get fully to his feet, however, something grabbed him from behind. Pain blossomed on the back of his head, and everything went black.

OK, so there's a stalker who just got knocked out by something - or someone. I'll give each of you three guesses - who the figure is, what knocked him/her out, and what is going to be done to them now.

And...if any of you follow the movies...you know what's going to happen next. But that won't be up next week - it'll be Liz's side of the story!